Swiss flavors and fragrance company Givaudan announced first-half sales of 1.37 billion Swiss francs, or $1.13 billion at average exchange.

Quest Bolsters Fine Fragrance StaffNEW YORK — Fragrance supplier Quest International has appointed two vice presidents, as well as an account manager, within the fine fragrance sales department at its North American subsidiary here. Filippo Evangelista and Arnaud Roche each have been named vice president of fine fragrance sales, and Tania Pascoe has joined Quest as account manager of fine fragrance.

Evangelista is responsible for overseeing Quest's business with The Estée Lauder Cos. He most recently worked as business manager on Quest's Unilever account in the fragrance supplier's Chicago offices. Prior to that, he worked as business manager of global accounts for Quest in Milan, and as a travel retail and exports executive at Versace Profumi.

Roche was most recently a key account manager for fine fragrances at Quest's creative center in Paris. Roche's new duties include Quest's Ralph Lauren and Coty/Lancaster accounts. Prior to joining Quest, Roche worked as an account manager for fragrance supplier Givaudan in France, and as a product development executive at Yoplait's international research center in Paris.

Pascoe also previously worked for Givaudan, where she was most recently in account management and marketing. She had previously worked for Quest in Naarden, the Netherlands, as a marketing assistant. Evangelista, Roche and Pascoe all report to Paul Austin, vice president and general manager of fine fragrances at Quest International North America.

Givaudan Profits DropPARIS — Swiss flavors and fragrance company Givaudan announced first-half sales of 1.37 billion Swiss francs, or $1.13 billion at average exchange, a decrease of 2.2 percent year-on-year. In local currencies, sales were flat.

At 282 million Swiss francs, or $233.5 million, earnings before interest and taxes dipped 1.7 percent year-on-year. Net profit also declined 8.8 percent to 208 million Swiss francs, or $172.2 million. By division, Givaudan said its fragrance sales grew 2 percent in local currencies and were flat in Swiss franc terms in the half.

"Consumer Products sales continued to outgrow the market substantially, whereas Fine Fragrance sales were affected by strong comparables," the firm stated. "The important number of new wins could not compensate for the erosion of existing business due to shorter life cycles and reduction of inventories in the distribution channels."The company's flavors business declined 1.6 percent in local currencies and 3.8 percent in Swiss francs.

Sales for the consumer division, which includes the skin care brands Nivea, Eucerin, La Prairie, Juvena, Marlies Möller, Labello, Florena and others, reached 1.01 billion euros, or $1.26 billion, during the quarter, which ended June 30. EBIT reached 124 million euros, or $155 million at average exchange.

The group said sales and profit growth was driven by successful product launches, particularly the introduction of a new Nivea Sun range and a new Nivea Pure deodorant in Europe. The Nivea men's skin care series also continues to generate strong sales gains, and the men's balsam and facial care products have reached number-one slots in the U.S. market, the group claimed.

Beiersdorf reconfirmed its 2005 forecast, calling for a group sales gain of 4.5 percent, adjusted for currency effects; an EBIT margin of around 11 percent, and a return on sales after taxes of approximately 7 percent.

Latest Galleries

FREE ALERTS & NEWSLETTERS

Social Studies

"I was driving back on Saturday afternoon from the beach, and I just saw this sign saying 'Skydiving for $95.' And I was like, I can't not sky dive for $95," says Tom Bateman about a moment in Hawaii while shooting "Snatched." #wwdeye (📷: @vsteves; Interview by @ktauer; Styled by @thealexbadia)